Plants, Planting and Planted

Shady bed under the oak tree

The title of this post aptly describes the condition of my outdoor space. It seems as though we may have displaced one quarter of the rocks on our property to rebuild flower bed borders and make pathways. I added this rock wall to our shady plant bed next to the house.  It helps to define the flower bed, but unfortunately creates a rather sharp corner for the avid roller-bladers that fly down the sidewalk.  There have been several roller blade accidents.
Esther and Eleanor helped me transplant 'vinca' and 'snow-in-summer' to this bed for ground cover.  I also transplanted some ferns but the dogs have pretty much annihilated those lacy beauties.  Clive's new name is "Fern-smasher".  Doesn't it sound like a name from Roald Dahl's The BFG?

Cluster of peony, day lilies, iris, and ground cover
above the shady bed

I carefully crept down to the dark woods on our property to find delightful green fronds.  I stabilized my footing between rocks and fallen branches on a slope and gingerly slid my spade into the forest floor to snatch a few ferns.  Once I filled my shallow bucket I laboriously skirted through the bracken up the hill making sure not to disturb the clumps of soil and pine needles that anchored each fern.

When I found my way back into the sunshine I giddily began to plant my botanical treasures.  I checked on my transplants throughout the day and they looked healthy, but the next morning when I woke up my heart sank.  Two plants out of the five still looked like they had a chance but the other ferns were just a pile of broken stems.  My sadness turned to anger, "Why do Corey's dogs (FYI: I usually refer to Clive and Willa as Corey's dogs when they are naughty)  have to lay in my flower bed?"  GRRRRRR!  My animosity did abate as the day withered, but Corey did hear about Fern-smasher when he got home.

Corey worked with the dogs that evening to try to get them to understand "get off" and they are starting to figure out that "get off" means remove your doggie body from the patch of dirt that you are standing on.  That will be an ongoing process and will require much patience as well as some fences.

We remade this rock border in front of the deck.  Two huge orange poppy
 clumps are happily growing here.  I sowed wildflower seeds between them.

Here's a peek at my garden

Corey rented a rototiller and worked for two hours on this grass covered swathe of earth.  As you can see there are a lot of grass roots in the soil.  We will have a lot of hoeing to do to eradicate all the grass.  We were able to transplant raspberry starts and I planted all the veggies that I had started from seed this winter.  Hopefully, Lord-willing, we will be able to harvest tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, melons, cabbage, carrots, radish, lettuce, beans, and scallions after the weather warms up.  I have really low self-esteem as a gardener because of several years of failed attempts to bring new life into my neighbor's empty lot, but that is a different story.

This chicken wire fence is protecting my seed beds from chicken and dog invaders.

Corey has been trying to keep my spirits up.  He says that the soil is so fertile here that he could cut of his foot, plant it, and regrow another one.  Hmphhh, I am not so sure about that, but his humor did bring a smile to my face.

Fern-smasher the Terrible -  who knows what he is sitting on right now?